The Bitcoin community has a new problem to solve; the latest problem to hit digital currency is a double spending bug affecting Bitcoin wallets.

The problem was discovered on 4 July as many Americans were busy celebrating Independence Day. Some Bitcoin miners are now generating invalid blocks, making it impossible to guarantee that currency can’t be spent more than once. The Bitcoin Foundation assures users that all transactions confirmed by 15:00 on 4 July are safe.

Double spending is supposed to be avoided by the Bitcoin protocol itself, which checks the block chain to check if any given Bitcoins have been spent or not. Some software can detect that some blocks are invalid and reject them; other software can’t detect that blocks are invalid, so they show confirmations that aren’t real.

For several months, an increasing amount of mining hash rate has been signaling its intent to begin enforcing BIP66 strict DER signatures. As part of the BIP66 rules, once 950 of the last 1,000 blocks were version 3 (v3) blocks, all upgraded miners would reject version 2 (v2) blocks.

Early morning UTC on 4 July 2015, the 950/1000 (95%) threshold was reached. Shortly thereafter, a small miner (part of the non-upgraded 5%) mined an invalid block–as was an expected occurrence. Unfortunately, it turned out that roughly half the network hash rate was mining without fully validating blocks (called SPV mining), and built new blocks on top of that invalid block.

Note that the roughly 50% of the network that was SPV mining had explicitly indicated that they would enforce the BIP66 rules. By not doing so, several large miners have lost over $50,000 dollars worth of mining income so far.

Despite adoption by a number of big names, many people remain skeptical of the digital currency. But there are others who believe cryptocurrencies are the future of online, and real world, transactions. With the economy failing in Greece as the country teetering on the verge of crashing out of the EU, some Greeks have converted their money into Bitcoin in an attempt to minimize the risk of devaluation.

At the time of writing the Bitcoin.org announcement stated the immediate fix was to get all miners off of SPV mining and back to full validation (at least temporarily). For now, their recommendation is for waiting 30 extra confirmations but this would decline to a lower number as soon as the problem was fixed.

Dash price jumped higher before ending the past week, but it looks like it was a false break.

The price was completely rejected around 0.0120BTC, which is a warning sign in the short term.

0116BTC is again a minor resistance area for more upsides.

Dash price completely failing to trade higher is a worrying sign, as sellers look like controlling the current situation.

More declines?

The price moved higher recently, and even managed to clear a couple of important hurdles on the way up like a bearish trend line on the hourly chart and 0.0116BTC. However, it turned out to be a false break, as there was a major rejection noted around 0.0120BTC. The price moved back below the broken trend line, and also cleared a bullish trend line formed around the same area. The most important point is the fact that the price settled below 0.0116BTC, which may once again act as a resistance moving ahead.

Furthermore, the 100 hourly simple moving average is sitting around 0.0116BTC to create pressure on buyers. In short, there is a monster hurdle forming around the mentioned area where buyers might struggle if the price pushes higher from the current levels. If at all there is a bullish reaction, then the broken trend line might also come into play and stall the upside. The hourly RSI has just moved below the 50 level, which is an initial warning sign for buyers.

On the downside, the Lower Bollinger Band could provide support in the near term. Any further declines might call for a retest of the last swing low of 0.0108BTC.

Intraday Support Level – 0.0110BTC

Intraday Resistance Level – 0.0116BTC

Let us see how sellers react moving ahead, and whether they can take the price further lower in the near term.

Dogecoin price continued to struggle to break higher, but it looks like it might surge moving ahead.

There is a bullish flag formed on the hourly chart, which if valid might push prices higher in the near term.

The price is struggling to settle above 76.0 Satoshis, which is a warning sign on the other hand.

Dogecoin price traded higher recently, but there was a failure noted around 76.0-78.0 Satoshis which pushed it back lower.

Bull Flag?

Dogecoin price after trading towards 65.0 Satoshis one more time traded back higher, but failed to settle above an important level of 76.0 Satoshis. The price is now moving lower, but it looks like forming a bullish flag pattern on the hourly chart. If the highlighted pattern is true, then there are chances of the price trading higher in the near term. There are a couple of encouraging signs which add value to the current bullish view. First, the hourly RSI is above the 50 level. Second, the MACD is in the bullish slope with no signs of divergence as of writing. Last, the price looks good, suggesting more gains.

However, the price needs to convincingly settle above the 100 hourly simple moving average, and 76.0 Satoshis. If buyers succeed in doing so, then there are possibilities of the price breaking 80.0 Satoshis and moving higher. The mentioned level holds a lot of importance, and if there is a break above it more gains are likely.

On the downside, 70.0 Satoshis is a key area, followed by the flag support trend line. Any more losses might push prices towards 64.7 Satoshis.

Intraday Support Level – 70.0 Satoshis

Intraday Resistance Level – 76.0 Satoshis

In short we might consider buying if the price settles above the flag resistance and 80.0 Satoshis.

It seems that Litecoin has decided to continue to defy gravity even when it is grossly overbought. Technical analysis of the 240-minute LTC-USD price chart confirms that the cryptocurrency does not deserve your dollar at the current level.

Litecoin Chart Structure – The above chart clearly tells that Litecoin had been trading sideways, in a very small range before the blowout. The cryptocurrency registered back-to-back strong upmoves on enormous volumes (check out the chart above). As the price soared to a new 9-month high of $5.000, traders pocketed gains which added pressure on the cryptocurrency.

Moving Average Convergence Divergence – The MACD has crossed above the Signal Line following the strong trading action. The values of MACD, Signal Line and Histogram are 0.2032, 0.1198 and 0.0835 respectively.

Momentum – The Momentum indicator registered a sharp jump in reading post the Greek voting results. The reading has jumped from near-zero levels to 0.7140.

Relative Strength Index – The 14-4h RSI value catapulted to 86.67 when the price raced to $5.000, however, the cryptocurrency is still expensive at the current level. Litecoin has an RSI value of 73.1765.

Conclusion

Long speculators have a strong grip over Litecoin, which is taking the price to atrocious levels without any sound backing. As the valuation gets richer, it is becoming increasingly riskier. Market participants are advised to not buy Litecoin as the risks far outweigh the rewards. The cryptocurrency may face resistance near $5.300, at which traders can take bearish positions while maintaining a tight stop-loss above $5.500. Do not resort to impulse buying.

The Greeks have made themselves heard loud and clear: In landmark voting, the people of Greece have rejected the European austerity measures with results showing 61 percent voted ‘No.’ This leaves the fate of Greece in the hands of its creditors, who now have to take a decision on whether to keep Greece in Eurozone or not.

Bitcoin continued to gain over the weekend on expectations that Greece would say ‘No.’ From our last observation at $256.14, Bitcoin jumped over 7% to hit a high of $274.74, a new 3-month high.

A technical look at the 240-minute BTC-USD price chart conveys that Bitcoin is under strong bullish control, and can be bought on dips.

Bitcoin Chart Structure – As can be seen from the chart above, Bitcoin has registered a U-shaped recovery over the weekend. As it became more obvious that the voting hasn’t been as close as was previously expected, and that the Greeks have rejected the bailout offer proposed by the creditors, Bitcoin crossed the previous 3-month high on strong trading (check out the chart above). Presently at $269, the cryptocurrency can be seen retesting the previous high.

Moving Average Convergence Divergence – The MACD, the Signal Line and the Histogram, all three can be seen at strong levels following the surge. The latest MACD value is 3.2936 while that of Signal Line is 1.6147. Thus, Histogram has a value of 1.6789.

Momentum – The bullish price action was not a fake one; it was well supported by strong momentum. The latest Momentum indicator reading is 13.2600.

Relative Strength Index – The RSI indicator reading of 68.2477 is very close to the overbought level.

Conclusion

Bitcoin has become a buy on dips candidate after the voting results. Buy Bitcoin near $256-258 while maintaining a strict stop-loss below $252. Profit booking is expected in the cryptocurrency.

The expansion in the Bitcoin ecosystem has surpassed all expectations. Even as the current value of Bitcoin offers no comfort to speculative investors, the dollar investment inflow has reached all-time highs, and consumer adoption is on the rise. These factors are quickly prompting the leading Bitcoin payment processors, such as Bitpay and Coinbase, to continuously re-innovate their services.

BitcoinPayGate allows its customers to instantly receive payments in Bitcoin on their websites and in store. The company has three major plans to cater to different groups of customers:

Small Plan – Instantly create a merchant account via an easy signup process. In this plan, the customers can receive their payments on 1 domain at €9 per month. The transaction fee is pretty competitive at 2%. Email support is provided.

Business Plan – Allows for instant creation of merchant account and the business owners have the advantage to receive remittances on 10 domains at €99 per month. The transaction fee is lowered in this package to 1.5%. Business can contact the support team via email.

Enterprise Plan – Priced at €349 per month, the package seamlessly supports unlimited domains at only 0.9% transaction fee. Customers of this package avail custom installation as well as email and phone support.

The company’s payment gateway solutions are flexible to any and all needs of the customer. For any queries, requests can be emailed at info@bitcoinpaygate.com.

The latest entrant in the payment processing industry is also active on social media. Stay connected with the company on Twitter: @BitcoinPayGate.

Have you used BitcoinPayGate yet? Are you looking to adopt bitcoin as a payment method for your company? Let us know!

The government of India has taken the initiative to push for overall technological development of the country. The Prime Minister of India recently announced the launch of Digital India Week to introduce information technology to every individual household in the country.

Introduced in a corporate event, the initiative was received with great enthusiasm by who’s who of Corporate India. In response to the announcement, the corporate community showed its support by pledging close to $71 billion on the very first day. The pledged amount will be used for various technology ventures which can potentially create over 1.8 million jobs.

As per the current outline, the digital programs to be implemented as part of Digital India initiative includes DigiLocker – a cloud based digital locker to store documents, e-Sign with Aadhar (Unique Identification Number), National Scholarship Portal, e-Hospital system, Centre of Excellence for Internet of Things and high-speed digital highway for governance. Blockchain technology may soon be included into the list due to increased interest shown by tech and finance industry.

The DigiLocker Service has been already launched by the government of India earlier this year. Currently in its beta stage, DigiLocker is a cloud based digital document storage platform that allow users to upload digital copies of all important documents. Along with storage space, it will also enable registered users to digitally sign the saved documents as well.

With DigiLocker, people can keep all their documents saved and stored in one place so that it can be easily accessed by the owner from anywhere. It is a first step towards creating a truly paperless governance in the country, it will enable individuals to submit a link to the corresponding ID or document whenever requested by a government office or institutions.

The development of DigiLocker and government’s entry into Internet of Things has opened up lot of opportunities for Bitcoin technology enthusiasts and entrepreneurs to get involved in upcoming projects. The proposed Centre for Excellence for Internet of Things will be involved in developing technologies related to IoT while encouraging, training and promoting local talent.

Currently DigiLocker uses conventional architecture along with two factor authentication to provide a secure data storage, retrieval and management. We can expect the DigiLocker facility to be incorporated into Blockchain for better security and transparency. By doing so, it will further reduce the load on government’s IT infrastructure, as people will be able to share the hash key for documents directly with the institution or organizations requesting for verification purposes.

The country is encouraging adoption of electronic transactions instead of cash payments to bring in accountability and increase the efficiency of economic system. Digital currency has also garnered the interest of the Reserve Bank of India’s governor. We can expect the Indian Bitcoin community to grow huge as internet connectivity improves across the country.

Gone were the days when business meant big corporations with lots of money and clout. The advent of internet and easy access to knowledge and technology has levelled the corporate playing field. People with entrepreneurial tendency are taking a bold step forward to start their own companies where they make ground breaking products. If you know about Uber, Airbnb even Facebook and Telegram messenger then you will know how they came about. They were all start-ups that were born in small places with a small team. These companies are examples of some of those which became big and famous really fast.

There are many entrepreneurs, young and old alike who have stopped following the age old tradition of working for a company to start their own venture. Thanks to such people we have a prolific start-up community across the world. Few countries like the United States, United Kingdom and India are full of thousands of start-ups, with more waiting to follow the path.

Start-ups usually keep up with the emerging trends to develop new products that addresses the needs of ever changing society. They bring about disruption in tried and tested business models to offer something which is completely new and more effective.

Bitcoin for example is one such area which is seeing a lot of start-ups emerge. Ever since Satoshi Nakamoto introduced Bitcoin to the world in 2008 it has grown exponentially leading to wide spread adoption of not just bitcoin as a digital currency but the technology behind bitcoin, namely Blockchain as well. Technology enthusiasts and entrepreneurs have taken to this technology like fish to water. This has led to development of a wide range of Bitcoin based applications that can be incorporated into our day-to-day life. Some of these applications have the potential to bring about drastic changes to the existing systems, especially in the banking, finance, record management, governance, law, intellectual property and many other sectors.

Creating new technologies and applications related to these technologies, especially if they can bring about a huge change in the existing system is not an easy task. There are lot of challenges and roadblocks that these start-ups have to overcome before their solutions are accepted universally. For Bitcoin related start-ups and applications, these hindrances take the form of governments, big corporations and regulations targeted towards Bitcoin as a digital currency and technology.

Starting with the initial fear of the unknown concept of a digital currency not backed by any governing authority to banks and governments fearing loss of control over the economy and population have been playing a role in hindering the pace of growth and development of Bitcoin applications and businesses. Take New York State’s BitLicense for example, a set of rules and regulations that has got many cryptocurrency start-ups and businesses rethink their markets. Some of these companies like ShapeShift.io and Eobot have pulled out of the State of New York because of BitLicense.

If it’s any consolation, we can be sure that the development will go on, people will find ways to circumvent or overcome these challenges and continue working on creating new applications and improving the technology itself. It is because of such perseverance on the part of entrepreneurs and start-ups we are seeing the technology outgrow these fears and making itself heard. Bitcoin and the companies that work on/with Bitcoin and Blockchain technology which has forced the banks and governments to acknowledge its potential. Banks, financial institutions and governments are now embracing Bitcoin and Blockchain after realising that it is that time when you either hop into the bus or miss it. Missing the Bitcoin bus is no longer an option as it may result in them becoming obsolete.

The day is not far when Bitcoin technology, which is simple yet advanced becomes part of everybody’s way of life.

How many email account does an average person have these days? What about the number of social networks we are all part of? An average person has accounts created in at least three social networks and users two or three email ids. Apart from email and social media accounts there are many other websites that we visit on a regular basis to access resources or for entertainment. Not to forget bitcoin wallets and exchanges.

A lot of these websites require the users to login to access content or to interact with the platform. As the number of applications we use increases, the number of login credentials we need to remember will also increase. We may think of a couple of solutions to overcome these issues.

Use the same login credentials for all applications

Use social media sign-in for all applications

They are both easy and simple solutions, but relying on either one of those is not an intelligible thing to do. If we use the same login credentials for all our accounts, we will be leaving them all vulnerable to attacks. Even if a single account gets compromised, it is as good as losing control over all our accounts on the internet. Hence, it is not advisable to have the same credentials set for all the accounts.

The social media sign-ins using Google, Facebook, Linkedin or Twitter, we will end up sharing our browsing history and other relevant data with these big companies who will in turn use them for to make more money by sending out targeted ads or selling personal information to other advertising companies. Not many are comfortable sharing their personal information with these big corporates.

When we group our whole internet activity together and look at the macro view, we will realize that our entire persona is out there, scattered across the ether. Our persona on the internet, especially our social media activity, number of friends we have on those platforms, number of entries in our address book can be interpreted as our trust networks. Majority of the people on our account are there because they know us as a real person, or they have interacted with you at one point or another in the real world. It can be used to create a digital identity system that assigns and verifies our identity, similar to government issued identity cards or social security numbers, but only decentralized.

Passcard is one such project which is making it happen. With Passcard account, we don’t have to remember passwords or bitcoin wallet address anymore. Passcard is your online identity, it can be used to log into websites, receive bitcoin, share contact information and much more. Still in the initial stages, Passcard makes use of bitcoin Blockchain technology to create a verified online profile of the user. Once the profile is created, it becomes one’s identity on the internet. Being developed on Bitcoin technology, it is a secure, open source, decentralized platform that puts users in the driving seat. Only they have the authority to decide what they want to do with it, what information goes on the Passcard and choose the applications and services they wish to use.

As part of One Name project, people can create their Bitcoin username and profile on Blockchain. Until now Blockchain and bitcoin were known for anonymity (more like pseudonymity), but One Name is taking a completely opposite approach to assign identity to the random looking string of characters of wallet address or hash keys. Once you have a Passcard, people can use the One Name identity to send bitcoin instead of using the long wallet address or scanning the QR code.

Built on BNS – Blockchain Name System is similar to internet’s Domain Name System or DNS, Passcard is being constantly developed to add new features. The company envisions Passcards to become a form of universally accepted identity in the physical world too.

If you are someone who takes privacy and anonymity seriously, then the probability of you being familiar with VPN (Virtual Private Network), TOR and other widely used proxy tools to mask ones identity and location. VPN is one of the widely used service provided by number of companies across the world. These VPN services help internet users circumvent internet censorship and access blocked content in different geographies. VPN is also being increasingly used as a way to hide one’s identity as companies offering VPN services claims they offer anonymity and privacy.

Bitcoin is known for security and the anonymity associated with it. These features along with the technology behind bitcoins in the form of Blockchain which acts as a ledger and maintains records of each transaction has been responsible for the increased popularity of the digital currency. It is a common practice for many to use TOR (The Onion Router) and VPN services to mask their identity while making bitcoin transactions or surfing the deep web. Bitcoin transactions are considered to be pseudonymous, not anonymous. The anonymity part is associated only with the wallet address whereas transactions between wallets is publicly visible. However, with the right set of tools and expertise it is still possible to find the identity of the person associated with a particular bitcoin wallet.

Let’s accept the fact that Bitcoin was popularized by its adoption as the currency of choice in the deep web. People could buy drugs, weapons and other illegal stuff from deep web marketplaces like Silk Road and Agora. In order to ensure that the online activity isn’t monitored by law enforcement agencies, people prefer using IP masking services like VPN and TOR protocol.

For those who have become too comfortable with VPN as a security layer for protecting privacy and maintain anonymity, they are out of luck. According to a study conducted by a group of researchers from Queen Mary University in London and Sapienza University in Rome, VPN services are not as good as the companies claim them to be. They tested over 14 most popular commercial VPN services to find that most of them leak IP information and some may even be vulnerable to DNS hijacking attacks.

Commercial VPN services like Astrill, IPVanish, ExpressVPN, TorGuard, Tunnelbear, Hide My Ass and Hotspot Shield Elite are some of 14 VPN service analysed. With most of these services still operating on outdated technology, they end up leaking small amounts of IPv6 traffic which can be detected by the public and used to gain access to entire web browsing history of the user.

However, in spite reports of TOR network being compromised, It is still the best out there in comparison to VPN services. So, those interested in maintaining their privacy, can go back to using Tor over a VPN service, or just TOR instead of relying only upon VPN.